Wings: Advanced Micro Devices analyst Foo Fang Jie found this set of angelic wings while examining a fracture in a sample of silicon. It won second prize. Photo: Foo Fang Jie/AMD

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The Hope Terrace: The chipping at the edge of a silicon wafer, when examined under a scanning electron microscope, looks like an inspiring bit of geography, according to third-prize winner Tan Lee Koon. Photo: Tan Lee Koon/Systems-on-Silicon Manufacturing Co.

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Mysterious Jungle: A membrane structure [top] adheres to a bit of carbon tape to form a strange forest in this microscopy image. Photo: Lim Chan Way/Infineon Technologies

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The Happy Frog: Systems-on-Silicon analysts were inspired by the way this “frog” seemed to look forward to the next challenge. Photo: Lee Chee Hiong/Systems-on-Silicon Manufacturing Co.

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Silver Leaves: These cabbage-like growths are silver sulfide crystals on a resistor network. The crystals increased the resistance to the point where the network stopped conducting. Photo: Amy Ng/Angelina Lau/Micron Technology

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The Royal Elephant: Advanced Micro Devices analysts thought this transmission electron microscope image of a silicon sample looked like an elephant in a headdress preparing to usher in the king. Photo: Jacqueline Kwa/AMD

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Big Nose: A resistive RAM device made of nickel [top], halfnium dioxide [middle], and silicon [bottom] melted down during testing, resulting in an adorable clown face. Photo: Wu Xing/Pey Kin Leong/Singapore University of Design and Technology